Paris (AFP)

In a cozy atmosphere of the legendary Ferber studios in Paris, you drink a champagne with your eyes closed while listening to a symphony dedicated to it: 191 voices correspond to the number of wines that compose it.

The pinnacle of luxury, musical tastings multiply, adding to the classic food-wine pairings. Do you really need this complicated organization to drink champagne?

"It is completely supported," explains AFP Olivier Krug, sixth generation and director of the champagne house Krug who has worked for the last five years with Oxford professor Charles Pence on the connections between music and taste as well as with IRCAM (Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics - Music) in order to compose different scores according to hearing, smell and taste.

This year, he chose to present the 167th edition of the great vintage in tasting accompanied by an "immersive symphony" composed by the Belgian Ozark Henry which took place at the Ferber studios in Paris before Seoul, London, Los Angeles, Tokyo , Milan, Hamburg and Gstaad.

"Music enriches the experience, the deepest memory is sound," said Ozark Henry, who spent hours in Krug's cellar tasting and "listening" to champagne.

- Goosebumps -

Sitting in a dimly lit room where no sound enters, we start to drink champagne, then take a sip when he plays the music.

"I had goosebumps," says Anne-Catherine Desdouits who offered this tasting to her daughter on the occasion of her 18th birthday. "I felt both depth and lightness, and this sparkle, all in a fairly heavenly harmony". "It's like a work of art," says her daughter, Colombe.

According to Olivier Krug, scientifically music "allows to reveal aromatic facets that one would not have without music". "We are in the process of putting our finger on a universe that goes far beyond champagne, which opens the door to science and health".

For Eric Beaumard, sommelier and director of the restaurant Le Cinq, combining champagne and music "brings another dimension to pleasure". Inspired by an experience he had with musicians from the Opéra de Lyon who tasted wines and composed songs according to their taste sensations, he designed a gala dinner at the George V palace as a "symphony of flavors ".

Selected wines and champagne have been sublimated by the creations of three-star chef Christian Le Squer, all served to the rhythm of a score played by a pianist for each of these chords. "Champagne is airy, extremely evasive, a texture that calls for openness, the bubble, it invites music immediately," explains the sommelier to AFP.

For Charles Philipponnat, CEO of the champagne house Philipponnat, "you can't do too much, otherwise you get lost. But beautiful classical music in a Romanesque chapel, wines that match this atmosphere, a wonderful thing. "

- Reconcile passions -

At Festigny, the Loriot couple push the experience even further by aging their champagnes to music: after bottling when the yeasts are very active, they are accompanied by Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. Wagner on the other hand is to be avoided: with too loud sounds, his music could block fermentation.

Michel Loriot's ancestors were musicians, but his father had to put away the instruments to work the vine. A music lover, Michel has reconciled the two family passions: for eight years he has been broadcasting Mozart, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Brahms or Tchaikovsky 24 hours a day in the cellars.

Impossible to scientifically prove the effect of music on the taste of champagne, but for the winemaker who treats his champagne like a living being, it is an "intimate conviction". "Music makes me feel good, it can only do good to my champagnes!" Exclaims Martine Loriot.

Apollonis made a musical tasting on "a rather fruity and round Meunier vintage" which allowed to experience "totally different sensations depending on the style of the music". "When you have a very cool jazz, you have a good feeling of the vintage and with something that is more rock with a lot of electric guitar, you can increase the acid feeling".

© 2019 AFP